This working-paper analyses Norwegian citizens’ attitudes towards the use of strong
prevention measures in the fight against terrorism in 2006 and in August 2011. The
question posed in the questionnaires, was: Imagine that the government suspects that a
terror attack is imminent. Do you think that the government should have the right to: a)
hold people in custody as long as they want without putting them on trial b) tap
people’s telephone calls, or c) randomly stop and search people on the street? In 2006, Norwegians stand out as being supportive of such measures, despite having been relatively shielded from serious terrorism. In August 2011, after the terror attacks in Oslo and at Utøya 22/7, we expected Norwegians to be even more supportive of these prevention measures. However, what we found is that Norwegians now are more sceptical of them. We discuss if more focus on democratic values and transparency in the Norwegian society in the weeks after the attacks and a persistent high level of trust in the authorities can explain this. Also, one can take account of the fact that the attacker was a Norwegian «lone wolf» and as far as we know operating without the support of any organized terror group